MBT News

In 2020, Midea's Commercial Air Conditioner Division was officially renamed the "Midea Building Technologies (MBT)", becoming a purely To B division.

"The central air-conditioning industry itself is a To B industry, whose customers are mainly buildings. Based on this, the business of Midea Building Technologies has started to extend to smart buildings." Peter Guan, president of the MBT division of Midea Group, introduced.

Peter Guan, President of MBT

Today, Midea has set up the Building Technology Research Institute and Shanghai M-BMS Intelligent Construction Company, specializing in the construction of digital platforms for the entire building, thus fully enters into smart building sector.

As a member of the HVAC and Building Technologies Division of Midea, the newly established Shanghai M-BMS Intelligent Construction Company aims to build the three nerve systems around the layout of the whole industry chain of smart buildings. It is equivalent to the nerve of the smart building, linking the whole building's equipment together, making the building a living, thinking to be.

In the field of smart buildings, the advantages of Midea are self-evident. Firstly, as a hardware manufacturing company, Midea is able to provide the most suitable quality products for the project; its multiple production lines, lifts, lighting, central air-conditioning and other various equipment can be connected in order to provide customers with a more flexible and adaptable solution. Secondly, Midea has taken a leading position in the industry in terms of software investment. The establishment of "Shanghai M-BMS Intelligent Construction Company also shows Midea's determination to build a whole industrial chain layout for smart buildings. In addition to the advantages in hardware equipment and software configuration, Midea, as a Chinese company, understands the needs of Chinese consumers better than foreign companies do.

Moreover, Midea is advantaged in reducing the energy consumption of buildings. The HVAC and lift sectors, in which Midea specializes, happen to be the two largest contributors to energy consumption. In HVAC, which accounts for the largest proportion of energy consumption, Midea's equipment has brilliant performance in energy saving. Midea also offers solutions such as ice storage and solar energy, providing solutions covering the energy efficiency of the equipment to the cooling and heating system.

The entry into smart buildings is also a change of business model for Midea, which requires transforming from selling equipment directly to companies to combining the needs of To C-end building users with those of To B-end building operators. Not only should the To C-end users enjoy a more intelligent experience, but it should also bring convenience to the To B-end operation and maintenance. Through Midea’s intelligent monitoring and analysis, the stability of components can be evaluated, which not only facilitates the operation of equipment, but also saves labor costs as much as possible.

What is a smart building? Here's how Midea sees it: a smart building should have two main dimensions, firstly, intelligence and secondly, energy efficiency.

Compared to traditional needs, smart buildings are more about comfort and convenience, and more about the connection with people. For example, the equipment should take into account the needs in all aspects and be in harmony with the whole building. In addition, efficiency and environmental friendliness are also valued. "Regarding standards, smart buildings are still in their infancy and, like smart homes, again there are no clear standards, so Midea hopes to stay in touch with the relevant authorities to work out solutions together." Peter Guan said.

Smart buildings are just one part of smart cities, in addition to the former, Midea has been involved in rail transportation, hospitals and other scenarios, and is making great strides towards the construction of smart cities.

"Midea is currently focusing on rail transportation, hospitals and office buildings, just because the demand in these three areas is relatively large. And, because the scope and market involved in these areas are wider, Midea hopes to focus on these three areas first to make the business bigger and stronger. Such a market capacity is already large enough." Peter Guan said.